Tropical Storm Beryl in Atlantic; 2nd named storm of season

The newly formed tropical storm is now over 1,300 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands, moving west-northwest. With sustained winds of 35 miles mph and quickly moving toward the west near 16 mph. Tropical storm watches were in place in Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, Saba and St. Eustatius, according to the hurricane center.

Two powerful storms threaten to turn into tropical cyclons in the Atlantic as hurricane season seems to have started hitting the Caribbean east coast this summer. "By Tuesday, a faster northeastward motion is expected to begin", forecasters said.

As of Thursday morning, the storm system was located between the Cabo Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles, southeast of the Caribbean Sea. Satellite data helped convince forecasters that the storm had met tropical cyclone criteria.

A tropical depression has formed west of Bermuda as Hurricane Beryl continues its path towards the Caribbean. However in recent weeks, warming waters in the Pacific have hinted that an El Niño weather pattern may form, which would produce upper atmospheric winds that could help tamp down the ferocity of storms in the Atlantic.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 65 miles per hour with higher gusts.

On May 31, Klotzbach was predicting a total of 14 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes - category 3 or stronger. And we don't usually see the first hurricane anywhere in the Atlantic basin until the 10th of August, with the second named storm not usually forming until August 1st.

Beryl is not the only item of note in the tropics as we wrap up the first week of July. Elsewhere, tropical storm development is trending more likely 100-300 miles off the Carolina Coast this weekend - a trend to watch closely for sure!